Four sets of provinces ensure dominance by the People’s Republic: • Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan in the south; • Gansu, Henan, Shandong, and Shanxi north of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River; • Guizhou, Sichuan, and Yunnan in the southwest; • Hunan, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang south of the Changjiang.

It is in Sichuan that giant pandas and green teas bio-geographically converge and inspire the launching of panda dung teas by businessman, educator, journalist, and naturalist An Yanshi.

Convergence of tea and pandas in Sichuen Province as center on Ancient Tea Route and as main homeland of Giant Pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

Subtleties in appearance and bio-geography account for the recognition of subspecies. The nominate giant panda belongs among the native fauna of Sichuan Province. The Qinling panda contrastingly counts among the animals native to altitudes of 4,265.09 – 9,842.52+ feet (1,300 – 3,000+ meters) above sea level on the Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi Province. The name melanoleuca accurately describes the black-and-white giant panda. It does not do likewise for the Qinling panda. Shaanxi pandas in fact exhibit dark and light brown -- not black and white -- coloration. Mammalogists also find bodies and skulls smaller and molars larger among Qinling pandas. They hypothesize:

Divergence of 300,000 years ago from the shared species ancestors;

Mutation in color from inbreeding.

Qinling Panda landscape: Along the freeway Hanzhong-Xi'an crossing Qinling Mountains, a recreational area depicts long history of this road which joins Shaanxi and Sichuan.

Mother-cub panda sculpture at Giant Panda Breeding Research Base

The Giant Panda Breeding Research Base falls within An Yanshi's ambit from wildlife-related article-writing and lecture-giving -- for Chengdu City residents and Sichuan University students -- to green tea-harvesting in the Qionglai Mountains. The center gets noticed for beautiful habitat, industrious staff, and waste removal. Pandas indeed leave copious droppings because of:

Behaving like herbivores (“plant-eaters”);

Digesting like carnivores (“meat-eaters”);

Sampling fish, insects, kiwi, and small mammals;

Using just 30% of all ingested foods.

The center problem-solves waste removal by letting panda manure be transported to fertilize tea shrubs on Professor Yanshi's organic farm at Ya'an. Like green tea processed from fresh buds and foliage, fiber-rich panda dung is high in cancer-fighting antioxidants and nutrients.

Panda sculpture made from panda dung: similar to paper mache and redolent of straw.

Recognition of the vulnerability of chemical-riddled environments, deforested habitats, and endangered pandas inspires Professor Yanshi to adopt organic farming methods and channel revenue into environmental activism. The method, the product, and the profits hopefully will improve the well-being of green tea-drinkers and of giant pandas on China's Daxiangling, Liangshan, Minshan, Qinling, and Qionglai Mountains.

Mingshan District, under administration of prefect-level city Ya'an, is site of first 7 tea trees, grown c. 53 BC on Mengding Mountain by Wu Lizhen, a native of the area

Mengding Mountain tea has been offered to emperors since 742 AD, during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907).

ancient, historic radiation of tea outward from Ya'an: Junction of Sichuan and Yunnan branches of Ancient Tea Route occurred hundreds of miles west of Ya'an in eastern Tibet's Markham County, near Sichuan border.

Numbered among 7 counties administered by prefecture-level city Ya'an is Baoxing, type locality for Giant Panda.

A Visual Celebration of Giant Pandas by Fanny Lai and Bjorn Olesen

Fanny Lai and Bjorn Olesen, both wildlife enthusiasts, followed in the giant footsteps of the shy and enigmatic giant panda, and captured both adults and cubs on camera in close-up situations. Beautifully photographed, in rarely seen settings.

Gusty and I thank you for reading this article and hope that our product selection interests you; Gusty Gus receives favorite treats from my commissions.

Comments

Very nice choices for favorites! They're both endangered and have beautifully furry light parts. It's definitely a clever move -- hopefully beneficial to the environment, the pandas, and the workers as well as to the inventor -- to associate the beloved giant panda with beloved organic tea (there are many "teapots with legs" throughout the world ;-]).